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- The so-called “Swiss Model” will make extensive changes to football’s UEFA Champions League competition
- The reforms are due to be put in place by 2024’s competition
- This was a topic explored on The Smart Money podcast – see below to listen in
Big changes are coming for the UEFA Champions League. Start from 2024, these changes could have long-term ramifications not only for European club football, but also domestic leagues and cup competitions.
What are the Champions League reforms?
The changes are called the “Swiss Model” and will see a swath of reforms to the Champions League. These include:
- Expanded competition: The format will go from 32 teams to 36
- No groups: The current format has groups, yet under these reforms, these will be removed and participant teams would essentially form one massive league of 36 teams
- Rankings system: Teams will be ranked from one to 36 by their UEFA club coefficients and assigned 10 games (five at home and five away) against 10 different opponents
- Qualification system: The top eight teams once these matches are completed would progress straight to the last 16.
- Playoffs system: The teams ranked ninth to 24th in the league standings would square off against one another in a play-off round to determine the eight remaining participants in the last 16
- Future qualification: In addition, those top eight teams who qualified for the last sixteen will be guaranteed qualification for next year’s competition
What are the implications of such reforms?
On the most basic level, there will be more games in the Champions League. Under these reforms there will be four additional matchdays to be added – taking the current number of games from 125 to a whopping 225. With such a volume of games, the tournament will likely become a season-long competition.
One of the most obvious concerns with such an increase in Champions League games is that domestic competitions will suffer. In my view, something has got to give. Players are already playing a record number of games, spread across domestic and European competitions.
I think we’ll see domestic cup competitions scrapped because of this. In 2019, French football authorities stopped the Coupe de la Ligue (league cup) to ease fixture congestion.
Why is the Champions League being reformed?
So why has UEFA decided to implement such drastic changes to the Champions League format? Much of the media speculation has been that this is an attempt to stop the launch of a breakaway, European Superleague.
The other reason is that UEFA wants to drive more money from broadcasting rights for the competitions. As of 2019, the value, of just one season of Champions League football was worth over $2 billion to UEFA, along with $400 million in commercial rights (i.e. sponsorship).
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The Smart Money Podcast explores Champions League reforms
These reforms were discussed in detail during The Smart Money podcast. As a reminder, the podcast has launched from A State Of Mind and covers the business of football in detail. Read more about the podcast here.
As both I and my guest Colin Watt spoke about, the ramifications for domestic football due to these reforms are hard to ignore.
Are these reforms unexpected?
No. Not at all. The Champions League is the premier competition in football, really only the World Cup could be more prestigious. The money on offer by an expanded competition makes such reforms an inevitability more than anything else. But will wider football benefit? I’m not so sure.
